A gym tunic (aka gym slip) like this costs from ten shillings and sixpence, and is available in brown or navy, other colours to order.
For those who have recently joined in, we are reading Oxenham’s Abbey Girl series in reading order, which is not the same as publication order. Today, though I’ll digress to explore some themes that are found in all of EJO’s books, but especially the Abbey Girls series: these include Hair, Gymmies and Tunics, Names, the meaning of the word “girl,” and more. Let’s start with . . . .
Parental Morbidity & Mortality
It’s tough being an Abbey Girl parent, especially for mothers! As with other novels that deal with young people (think of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Heidi, Pollyanna, Anne Shirley of Green Gables, Mary Lennox of The Secret Garden, etc.), a child has to be detached from home and the parental units in order [Read more…]
The Abbey Girls Win Through
A16_Queen of the Abbey Girls takes place in May to November of 1922 and was published by Collins in 1926. It is a strong story with a lot of dancing in it. This installment features Jen Robins—her crowning as the Brown or Beech Queen, her romance, and her presentation to the reader as one of the real spirits of the Abbey. Throughout the rest of the series Jen will retain her bright and merry spirit and she will increasingly become a wise counselor. Queen of the Abbey Girls also features some of the dark side of Joy Shirley: her selfishness and her inability to recognize other people’s emotions. This is another of the series that addresses Faith and God.
Published in 1925, A15_The Abbey Girls in Town begins in December 1921, Abbey Time, and concludes in May of 1922. It is the third novel in the Mary-Dorothy and Biddy Devine story arc and one that mostly resolves Mary’s “problem”—that of both unhealthy dreaminess and an over-idealization of Joy Shirley. After this installment, Biddy largely disappears, though she will get her own novel in A21_Biddy’s Secret. There are two major dance episodes in it: one at the Chelsea Polytechnic Christmas dance school, where we meet again with Cecil Sharp (“the Prophet”) and his teachers, and one of a children’s dance performance.